Batsy's Angels
by FrankieRaye
Summary: What could make Batman happier than a reformed Harley Quinn (DC) teaming up with a rebellious Quiverwing (DC-ized Disney. Go fig.) and the ex-sociopath Jade Nova (Amalgam)?
1. Part One

Batsy's Angels: Part One

**Over Before it Began**

Sort of co-written with Elendil, so go read his stuff too!

Federal Agent Peter Zale paced along the north side of the rooftop parking level of the garage that he'd agreed to meet the his new 'friends' at. It was a cruel fate that had played him into the hands of these three criminals. But it was a fate that he didn't intend to allow to continue unrevenged. As soon as he'd gotten what he needed from the three, he'd bring the unforgiving hand of justice down on them as well. He had three teams of agents stationed within a block's radius, to ensure once they came into his web, they didn't leave. Tapping his fingers on the briefcase that contained his laptop, he mused on how much he would enjoy interrogating the three in a federal facility.

A pair of headlights reflecting off a nearby car warned him his friends had arrived. He crossed his arms over his chest, moving to be visible by the oncoming car. When the car pulled to a stop, he realized there were only two people in it – Harly Quinn, and the mysterious Jade. A deep scowl crossed his features as they got out. 

"Hiya Zalie… Boy… you don't look to happy to see us. Thought we were yer new best friends…"

Zale sneered at the insincere hurt tone in Harley's voice. "Where's Brady?"

"In the trunk. We even gift-wrapped him for you. Now - where's our cash?" Jade pulled a cigarette out of her coat, and lit it, dropping the lighter back in her pocket, leaning across the hood of the car.

"Whatever happened to justice for justice's sake?" he replied sardonically. "Open the trunk." A nod from Jade sent Harley to the back of the vehicle, where she opened the lid to the trunk. Zale followed her, raising a brow at the man bound, gagged, and unconscious in the trunk, and wondered what ills the man had suffered in the hands of the violent femmes. He turned the man's head slightly, then nodded. It was Brady all right. And he was still alive. So far things were going exactly as planned. "Right then. And the disk?" Zale looked between Harley and Jade. Jade was smirking. Harley was shaking her head.

"Sorry, Zalie. As much as we'd like ta trust a nice federal agent like yerself ta play fair with us and stick ta tha agreement…"

"We're just not that stupid." Jade concluded bluntly.

"Are you saying you didn't believe I'd keep my word?" he asked, trying to sound hurt.

"Pretty much, yeah." Harley replied with a cheerful grin.

Zale scowled, and decided on a different tactic. "The agreement was you'd bring Brady and the disk here, and in return I'd give you the two thou… Seems to me the only ones breaking their word are you."

Jade chuckled – a dark chuckle that made Zale uneasy. "You must have your agreement with us mixed up with an agreement you made with some really easy saps," she said, her voice a tone of warning. "The agreement was - we'd give you Brady, a disk full of information that would implicate him and several others, and in return you'd give us _five_ thou and not bring anyone else into it. Now… based on the sudden homeless bum congregation that seems to have hit this part of town, and your own attempts at skating around the money… I'm gonna say you thought you'd lure us in here, and bust us, along with Brady. Not smart. Not smart at all, Zale."

Narrowing his eyes a little, Zale's hand moved towards his jacket pocket where he'd stashed a gun. And he found himself smacked over the head with a wand he hadn't even seen in Harley's hands. Dazed for a moment, he dropped the briefcase, which hit the ground with a thud. He then felt his arms twisted behind his back, his own pair of handcuffs placed on him. "You're just asking to get busted. Even if your little archer friend doesn't show up… I'll still have you two. You won't get out of here in one piece, if you do try and run. Taking me as a hostage wouldn't be smart either."

"I've heard that one before," Harley said cheerfully, collecting the briefcase and closing the trunk. Pulling out a knife, she popped the locks on the case. "It's just a computer, Jadey. He's either got tha cash on'im or he ain't got it at all."

Jade grinned predatorially…

The next day, in the commons room of their hotel suite, Gosalyn Mallard sat leaning over the morning paper, a cup of coffee in one hand, eyeing the headline. She looked less than pleased.

"Is there something wrong, Quiverwing?" H's thickly nasal voice stirred her out of her unpleasant thoughts, though only halfway, and she slid the paper to him, her violet eyes blazing behind the mask she wore. H, too, wore a mask, the remnants of an alter ego he'd stopped assuming many years before. Quiverwing was still bent on concealing their identities, especially from the two delinquents they'd somehow managed to end up working with. Harley, at least, was a known factor. Neither H, nor the government, had managed to find any information on the woman known only as Jade. Quiverwing didn't like Jade, but had deemed working with the woman more productive than fighting her tooth and nail over Edward Hayes. Hayes, as far as Gosalyn could tell, was Jade's boss, and dare she consider it possible, Jade's friend. Hayes was also linked to Bullba's henchman Hammerhead Hannigan, and despite Jade's insistence to the contrary, Gosalyn didn't believe for a minute the connection was a fake. 

"Female Criminal Ring Impedes Justice?" H sat down at the table next to her, reading over the article. "Hn… Last night a federal agent investigating a national crime ring's activities in Gotham was attacked while trying to arrest Kevin Brady, a local government employee implicated with several others…blah blah blah… what the? The women left Brady bound and gagged in the trunk of a stolen vehicle, and the federal agent was found dangling off the side of the building from a rope tied to the vehicle's bumper, wearing nothing but his boxers…" H took a moment to scan over the rest of the article, which named and gave descriptions of the three, and included a poor police sketch of Quiverwing and Jade, and one of Harley's old arrest photos. H dropped the paper on the table, and Gosalyn resumed glowering at it. 

Which was the perfect time for a sleepy eyed Harley, still in fuzzy pink pajamas, to stroll out of the bedroom she was currently sharing with Jade, yawning. "Mornin Quivy. H."

Gosalyn found a new target for her glower. She picked up the paper, tossing it forcefully at Harley. "What the hell were you two thinking?" she growled, starting to stand before H's firm hand on her shoulder pulled her back into the chair.

Yelping, Harley caught the paper. "Hey! We didn't do nothin'…" Harley said, then actually looked over the article. Her eyes grew gradually wider. "Wait a minute waitaminute waitaminute waitaminute …! None'a this is true… we'll… except the bit about leavin'im tied up in his boxers…" 

"I knew I couldn't trust the two of you with a simple drop off! I knew it! Leaving a federal agent dangling over the side of a building –"

"We left him the back seat of the car Brady was in!" Harley said defensively. "The whole article's a lie."

Gosalyn raised a brow, then sighed, closing her eyes. Harley plopped down on the couch, reading the article over again, and Jade stalked out of one of the other rooms, looking like she was about to kill someone. "Do you people have any idea what time it is?" she growled. "What the feck is all the shouting for?"

"It's about 8:30," H said helpfully, nodding to the paper to try and quell Jade's temper over being woken before eleven.

Jade snatched the paper out of Harley's hands, sitting on the couch and reading it over. She didn't respond till shed read the whole thing. The paper was then promptly hurled against a wall, narrowly missing a lamp. "Shoulda killed the bastard…" she growled.

         Gosalyn opened her eyes again. "One of you – please – tell me _exactly_ what happened?"

         Harley glanced at Jade, but seeing the former Lantern had gone into silent brooding on death and destruction, spoke up. "We went, just like we was 'posed to. Jade spotted Zale's back up agents on tha way in, but we played along, hopin' mebbe he was just afraid. He really wanted to arrest us. We showed him Brady, and he asked fer tha disk. We asked fer tha money, he said we weren't gonna get it, and that his agents would make sure we didn't get away. So I clocked 'im over tha head with my wand, and we handcuffed him. Jade searched him, found tha money he owed us, and we left'im in tha car, left tha disk with 'im too. Then we got tha hell outta there… only had one small scuffle with an agent'er two before we lost 'em. We kept our end'a tha deal, Quivs."

         Harley gazed quietly into Gosalyn's severe gaze for several long moments. Next to her, she could hear Jade muttering darkly under her breath in some language she didn't recognize. H had gotten up, and was now returning with several cups of coffee. Wordlessly, he placed a mug in Jade's hands, then handed the other to Harley, with a sheepish grin. Harley smiled in return. "Thanks, H-ie."

         "You're quite welcome, Miss Harley," he replied, bringing a chuckle from Harley in response to his continued formality.

         "Harley. Just Harley. Harl. Harlster. We're friend, H-ie. Don't be so formal…"

         "Force of habit, I'm afraid," he replied, returning to his place at the table.

         "All right. This wasn't your fault. And I apologize to both of you…" Gosalyn murmured after a short silence. "Brady and Zale were really my problem… I'm sorry you both got drug into this."

         "No worries, Quivs. My record wasn't exactly clean ta begin with… It's been a blast, workin' with both of ya. You too, H-ie."

         "Indeed, Miss Harley."

         "Zale's gotten the upper hand. It would seem that it's time to get out of Gotham. Any leeway I might have had with Batman just collapsed. I'm not so worried about Zale getting his hands on us again, but after this hitting the press, Batman'll be on top of us in no time. Even if I haven't managed to blow up a building yet."

         "I'll start packing, then," H said, standing.

         "Guess I'll pack too. I'm gonna miss you guys!" Harley lightly whined.

         Quiverwing actually half smiled in return, though it didn't erase the stern set of her lips. "Admittedly, Harley, working with you has been… interesting. So… Good luck."

         "You to, Quivs…"

         This moment of sentimentality brought a growl from Jade. "You three make it sound like it's over. What, we get into a little trouble and we fecking run off? Don't get me wrong. I may have hated this whole fecking idea from the beginning, and I'll be glad to forget I met any of you. But you're not seriously thinking about letting Zale get off this easy?"

         "I don't see what we can do, other than try for pointless revenge. When it comes down to it, it's our reputations against his." Gosalyn's voice was quietly resigned. She wondered if she was going to have to fight the arrogant Jade over this. Revenge on Zale, at least as far as Jade would take it, would likely result in death. She didn't have any proof, other than Jade's attitude, for thinking that, but it didn't seem a far stretch.

         There were several moments of silence, before Harley sheepishly suggested, "If… If Zale'd do somethin' like this… his record can't be all that clean, can it?"

         Gosalyn considered this, then grinned, looking at her partner and long-time friend. "H…"

         "I'll start digging right away," the genius murmured, actually sounding nearly as malicious as Jade.

         "I'll get breakfast!" Harley said enthusiastically, setting her coffee mug down and starting for the door to her bedroom. 

         "I'm going out. I'll be back late tonight," Jade murmured darkly, standing and heading for the front door. Gosalyn stood, catching her arm. "What?" she growled.

         "Don't do anything, Jade. Give H some time to dig up something on Zale –"

         "Feck, missy. Don't order me around," Jade responded with a glower.

         "Just trying to keep you from doing something stupid." Quiverwing replied, trying not to release her pent up dislike of the woman.

         "Stupid? Like brining Zale in and screwing us all over? I don't think I can match that."

         "No one asked for your help," Gosalyn said, gritting her teeth and gave up on trying to be nice.

         "Like I was going to let you just walk in and take Hayes down?"

         "Hayes is a criminal. You probably are as well."

         Jade just smirked sadistically at that. "You've no idea what I am, missy. Hayes is clean. Reconsider whatever conclusions you jumped to that state otherwise, or you'll be sorry."

         "That a threat?" Gosalyn asked, her fingers gripping Jade's jacket.

         Jade punched her. "Touch the jacket again, and I'll kill you. That, by the way, is what a threat sounds like."

         Gosalyn stepped back, her lips parted in a snarl, and looked about to return the fist throw. This brought a light chuckle from Jade. "I'm leavin' now. Harley, you're in charge. Don't let missy here do anything till I come back." That piece of arrogance being stated, Jade stalked out the front door.

         Harley, her hand on the knob of the bedroom's door, stood staring at the door, eyes wide. She looked back at Quiverwing. "You… you ok, Quivs?"

         "I'm fine, Harley," Quiverwing said tiredly, her hand moving to check her nose for blood. There was none. Jade actually hadn't hit her that hard, she realized. Just enough to drive her back. Shaking her head, she said, "I have a feeling I'd rather not know who she really is."

         When night fell on Gotham, it found Jade casually smoking a cigarette on the roof of city hall. Her form was hidden mostly in the shadows, but that would only go so far to conceal her. Which was exactly what she wanted. She had only to bide her time. And seeing as how she had a fresh pack of cigarettes, that wouldn't be a problem. The possibly that Batman wouldn't show up never entered her mind, not after the newspaper article this morning. She had been rather surprised that he hadn't showed up last night to crash their party with Zale. Having spent most of the day musing over what she'd say to the man – she still had no idea. She was always better at improvisation, anyway.

         Improvisation, indeed, was on her side. Bolas, spinning out of nowhere announced Batman's arrival. Obviously, even if no one else figured out who she was, the picture of her mug in the paper would alert the Justice League to the fact that Parallax was still alive. She couldn't blame the bat for being cautious – though finding her arms pinned to her sides was something more of a disadvantage that she'd have preferred. But the cigarette that hung between her lips was unharmed, so she'd placidly wait it out. "Not quite the warm welcome I was hoping for, Bats," she said, exhaling a cloud of smoke. She lowered her head a little, the shadows covering her face, all but for the light that reflected off her sunglasses. "You get points for trying, though."

         "How touching. I'll remember that while you spend the next dozen millennia in some lockup."

         Batman's sardonic voice brought a smirk to Jade's lips. Even if she had destroyed the Batman that she knew, just as she'd destroyed the Hal she knew, by becoming Parallax, the man hadn't changed. "Never know, Bats. Might get yourself one of those giant carnival pandas out of it, someday."

         Unamused, Batman crossed his arms over his chest. Out of the corners of her eyes, Jade could see a batarang glinting in his fist. "What I want to know is why you're not 'living impaired.' We lost all traces of you after your run in with the Sun-Eater."

         "You were meant to. Having the Justice-Lynch Mob come after my burnt out self was about as high on my to-do list as becoming a martyr." She paused, figuring now was about as good a time as any. "Came to ask a favor."

         "Really." Not-quite-surprise was stifled in his sardonic tone. He wasn't towing her off yet. He was going to at least hear her out. 

         "I know you read the paper, or at least have your own sources, so you about the alleged scuffle last night." She turned her head slightly, looking over the rim of the sunglasses at the looming shadow that was he. "Ain't worried about the feds finding us. Ain't worried about the cops. They're not that bright, especially in large groups. But you… If anyone managed to round the three of us up, it'd be you. So I'm askin' you to help us get out of this little mess. Or to stay out of it till we fix it ourselves."

         "Mess?" Translation of subtext: I don't make deals with criminals. Let alone sociopathic-cosmic-villians. "Exactly what kind of mess?"

         Jade exhaled a slow, artful cloud of smoke. "We were fecking set up," she replied, suppressing a growl. "And no matter what you may be given to believe about me, you can't possibly think that Quiverwing and Harley would feck themselves over by doin' somethin' as reckless and pointless as what the papers claim."

         "Reckless, I could," Batman replied. "Pointless, no. You have a name on the agent who was attacked?"

         Smirking, Jade replied, "Peter Zale. Don't know much about him, other than he's out of Washington, Dark hair, brown eyes, about six-one I'd say. We found him tied up and about to be shot. When Quiverwing found out he was a fed, she thought she'd found a 'better way' to bring down that Brady clown. Zale offered us the reward money if we brought Brady in. Guess he decided that it'd make him look real good to bring in two wanted fugitives on top of it."

         "I can look into it. I think it would be wiser than you doing so."

         "Ya think?" Jade replied with a chuckle. "Quiv's got her pet geek trying to dig up information on Zale's past already. Zale's either ambitious, or dishonest, pulling a stunt like this. Thanks for lookin' around on your end…"

         "I can't even begin to find a reason for why I'm agreeing with this. The League will be furious I haven't hauled you in yet."

         "Deep down inside, Bats, you know far more about me than you might think. Maybe that's what produced this little bout with insanity."

         "What I want to know," he replied, dismissing her words, "Is what the three of you are doing in Gotham. The paper called you a crime-ring."

         "Sounds better than miscreant vigilantes or any other colorful term they could have come up with to back Zale's story. Mind untying me now? Cigarettes are only so long, y'know?"

         Setting his jaw a little, Batman moved to untwist the bolas. Jade didn't look at him, and therefore missed him slipping a tracer onto her collar. But her thoughts were on the millionaire Bruce Wayne that had been nearly a friend before she'd messed up the timeline, not the caped crusader she was in the presence of. Rotating her shoulders once he stepped back, she ground out one cigarette and replaced it with a fresh one. "I'm in Gotham because I happen to like the city. It seemed as safe a place as any to lay low in. A man named Edward Hayes gave me a place to stay, and a job at his bar. Quiverwing managed to link Hayes into a plot with whatever goon she's stalking, and so I agreed to help her find the truth, to prove Hayes wasn't in on it like she thought. Which led us to Brady. Which led us to Zale. Harley… I met Harley on a bus. She needed a friend. I needed a burglar. There's a criminal ring, all right, but it ain't us."

         "I never liked Zale. 'Course, there aren't many people I do like, so that's not saying much. I'd like to think Zale's involved in whatever Quiverwing's after as more than an investigator. But again – I don't trust people. I like to think the worst of them till given a reason to think otherwise. On his end, your guess is as good as mine. On our end – we did Zale a favor. He stabbed us in the back."

         "It shouldn't be difficult to find out if Zale is hiding anything. If all he's after is personal gain, I can get a confession out of him."

         Jade raised a brow, looking at the man, then grinned slightly. "In a universe of mass chaos, there are at least some things that are reliable. I'll never stop smoking. You'll always be dependable. And… 'It's a Small World' will always be the most god-awful song on the planet."

         Batman gazed at her a moment, obviously having caught on to some hidden meaning behind her words. "I'll let you know what I find out," he said finally, then disappeared into the shadows.

         Harley was half asleep, curled up on the couch with a blanket, when Jade finally returned. "Heya, Jadie… Pizza's cold now, but there's two slices in tha box for ya…"

         Lifting the lid of the pizza box on the table, Jade snagged one of the cold slices, and sank down in a chair. "You wait up just to tell me that?"

         Rubbing sleep from her eyes, Harley shook her head. Actually, she'd waited up in hopes of getting to have a serious conversation with the woman, but finding herself face to face with her, she wondered what she'd been thinking. "Thought you'd be back sooner."

         "Heh. Sorry." Jade half closed her eyes, working on eating the pizza. Obviously Harley has something to say. About what, Jade didn't know.  "H find anything?"

         "Some stuff. Mostly people Zale was involved in busting that were later proven innocent…"

         "That's something, then."

"Yeah…" There wasn't any way Harley could mistake Jade's intonation as friendly. She wanted to believe that somewhere underneath the gruffness, Jade wasn't such a bear, but it didn't look too good. Still, she had to try. "Jadie…?"

         "Problem?"

Harley flinched at the nearly angry question. "I was just wonderin'… This mornin' when ya said you'd be glad ta ferget ya evah met us…"

         "I will be."

         "Guess that means there ain't a chance tha four of us'll stick t'gethah from now on, then?" 

         "Not likely."

         "Oh…" Harley replied. "Too bad. This was kinda fun… tha team thing, I mean…" What she meant was, it was kind of nice to almost feel like she had a place she belonged again. This time, on the right side of the law. Er. Mostly. 

         "I don't do teams. I'm just here to keep Quiverwing from lynching my boss."

         "What're ya gonna do when this is ovah, then?"

         "Same thing I was doin' before it started," Jade replied, then less caustically, after she'd finished off the pizza slice, asked, "You?"

Harley hadn't expected Jade to actually ask, and was hesitant in her response. "I don't know. I'm different from you an' Quivs. I got a record… I mean, Quivs has got a record, but none of it's true. Me… Everything is. I ain't exactly got a normal life ta return ta…"

         Jade snorted derisively. "So you screwed up. Don't wallow in it. You won't get anywhere tryin' to convince people you've changed. You want to lead a normal life bad enough, you'll find a way. You want to stick to this do-gooder crap, then stop being a baby, accept your reputation, and do what you've got to do." Jade stood. "M'goin to bed. If I get woke up before eleven again, someone's gonna die."

         Harley blinked a little, snuggling back down into the blanket as Jade disappeared, getting the feeling she'd missed something in the woman's words.

         The second morning in the row rose to find Quiverwing sitting at the table in the hotel room's commons, glowering murderously at the headline in the paper. For the second night it the row, it would seem, Agent Zale had been found dangling off the side of a building. The odds of that happening on it's own just weren't that great. And Jade was the only one that had been out yesterday.

         H was seated at the table across from his partner, typing away on his laptop and ignoring her fuming. Harley was looking nervously between a bowl of Cheerios and the clock. It was almost ten. It seemed Quiverwing was waiting for 11 to roll around, instead of waking Jade up. Harley was glad. She rather thought Jade was serious about killing someone.

         It was somewhat of a surprise when Jade strolled out of the bedroom, flopping down onto the couch, dropping her jacket next to her, oblivious to the stormcloud hanging over Quiverwing's head. There was no sound for several moments, other than Harley nervously spooning Cheerios into her mouth. Slowly, Gosalyn rolled the newspaper in her hands. There was another silence. Harley, having seen the newspaper, had placed her spoon in the bowl and gone motionless.

         The paper roll was hurled across the room at Jade's head. Jade bobbed her head to the side, and caught the paper as it bounced off the wall. She fixed a half glower on Quiverwing, who was returning the glower fully, before opening the paper and looking at the headline. Quiverwing took the wide, amused grin on Jade's face as a confession.

         "Are you trying to get us caught?" Quiverwing growled, standing.

         Unimpressed, Jade tossed the paper back at her, then stood and started for the table. "It wasn't me. At least. Not directly. What's for breakfast, Harley?" Both Jade's path to the table and Harley's reply were stopped by Quiverwing lunging for Jade's throat. It took Jade a mere two seconds to pin Quiverwing's arms behind her back. Jade's smirk said all too well that she was enjoying being the source of Quiverwing's frustration. Anything that might have been said at that moment was postponed by the sound of a padded envelope hitting the table. Jade was the only one that didn't look surprised to see the looming figure of Batman standing by the window. "Behave now, missy. We've got company." Jade pushed Quiverwing away from her, against the table, and flopped back down on the couch.

         Batman's presence had likely prevented an attempted murder. Harley was obviously glad for the disruption. "Mornin' Batsy…" she said, trying to sound cheerful. "Want coffee?

         Looking between them, Batman spoke, choosing not to comment on the scene. "Your friend Zale is no criminal mastermind. He just wants a bigger slice of the pie. The DA won't be happy about having to drop the assault charges, so I'd make certain he doesn't find the two of you with outstanding arrest warrants."

         Quiverwing shot Jade a venomous look, having put two and two together. She didn't look pleased that she'd been 'helped' by Batman again. She also didn't look inclined to misbehave in front of the man. Harley had picked up the envelope, eyeing it, and had determined it contained a video tape. Jade was just looking smug. "I believe the man has won a panda," she said amusedly to herself. 

         "I'd rather know what the three of you plan to do next," Batman said, as usual, unamused. "To put it bluntly, all of you are hazards. The Joker's former right hand. The estranged daughter of a vigilante, out to stop a criminal at any cost. And here we have Parallax –"

         Jade cringed visibly at the startled, "Parallax?!?" from the other three in the room, then went back to smirking. Quiverwing, for her part, had developed a darker scowl, having found a whole new reason to hate Jade. H was typing away at his computer, obviously seeking to confirm the accusation. Harley was just looking at Jade in a kind of stunned, betrayed manner. 

         H closed the laptop, folding his hands on it after a moment, having found his confirmation. He looked at Gosalyn, who didn't look inclined to answer, and so spoke up himself. "I can't speak for the others, Mister Batman, but once the mess with Mister Zale is resolved, Miss Quiverwing and myself will be leaving the city to follow a new lead." This received a nod from Quiverwing, a sign that her composure was starting to return.

         Sighing, Harley went back to poking her Cheerios. "I'm stayin' in Gotham ta annoy ya, Bats. It's tha only home I got, aftah all."

         Jade snorted in amusement. "What. Like I'm gonna tell _you_ my plans."

         "I see," Batman replied, obviously less than happy with the answer he had received, also possibly mildly annoyed with his own error in calculation.

         Harley sighed again, depressed over the break-up. Quiverwing was just biding her time waiting for Batman to leave so she could maim Jade for life. Jade wasn't about to give anyone that chance. Standing, she slipped on her leather jacket. "I'm the only one without a police record," she said, moving to retrieve the tape, "I'll drop that off at the –" She stopped speaking as Quiverwing's hand came down on the envelope. Shrugging, Jade turned and walked out.

         In that time, Batman had disappeared.

         "He nevah says goodbye," Harley said quietly when she noticed. "Guess this is tha end'a team Quiverwing?"

         Quiverwing growled slightly, and picking up the tape, disappeared into the bedroom, obviously to get dressed and take the tape herself. H looked apologetically at Harley. "Logically, it would seem so, Miss Harley."

         "Where ya goin' next? Ya sounded like ya knew?"

         "South. A town called Bludhaven," He replied with a shrug.

         Jade didn't go far, just a few blocks, into an alley and onto a fire escape to have a smoke while she contemplated on what her exact plan would be. The nearly absent sound of someone dropping onto the fire escape behind her made her smirk. "Dependable Batman," she said coyly.

         She was surprised to receive an apology. Or, as close as she figured anyone would ever get from the man. "It seems my assumptions were wrong," he said, then added, "You've got a tracer on your collar."

         "It'll come out in the wash. You did what you were meant to do. And you're not quite done making my life difficult."

         There was a short uncomfortable silence in response to Jade's odd reply. "Be careful, then. I can 'overlook' that I happened to find you here, but other League members won't be so understanding."

         Seeing him turning to go, Jade pulled the cigarette from her lips. "No. You can't overlook it. It's too big. So you'll tell them."

         He stopped, not looking back. "You want to be chased?"

         "You have to admit, it'd be amusing to see exactly how long I can stay free when the entire league is out hunting me," Jade replied, placing the cigarette back between her lips. "You're the dependable one. You have to do what you have to do. Only thing I'll regret is not being there to see the look on Rayner's face when he realizes the truth about the ring he found."

         "I'll be sure to capture an image from the Watchtower's security cameras for you to post on your wall."

         "I'll hold you to that."

         "I think you should get going. Both Harley and Quiverwing heard me call you Parallax. The times should at least coordinate," he said, pulling a communicator off his belt.

         "Dependable as ever," Jade said, standing and rubbing the cigarette out on the railing. She looked over her shoulder at him. "Been fun, Bats. Both times around." Springing off the fire-escape, she started at a jog down the alley.

         Batman stared after her a moment. "Good luck," he intoned quietly, thumbing the communicator on. "Batman to Watchtower, code red…"

To be continued… 


	2. Part Deux

Batsy's Angels, Part Deux: A New Beginning

Bullba had been brought to justice, but the cost had been high. The cost had been her reputation; and even though the world now had evidence that Bullba was real, had employed robotic clones of himself to do his dirty work, and had killed and manipulated and brought countless people to their ruin… 

Well. As the saying went, a reputation is like fine china – once cracked, never easily mended.

So Quiverwing was left branded with the title 'terrorist' that Bullba had forced her into.

No. He hadn't forced her. He'd manipulated her, yes, but that was no excuse. She was an intelligent being capable of free thought, and at any time she could have dropped it; could have said no; could have walked away. But she hadn't.

She'd made her bed, now she had to lie in it. Gosalyn didn't expect sympathy. The young woman fully accepted that she was going to be hunted as a criminal from now on. She was just relieved that H had agreed to go home before his reputation had been ruined as well.

At least they didn't know who she was. Darkwing had officially denounced his former assistant, and from the news reports she'd been watching, the heat had finally died off of him and St. Canard. Her father was in the clear, his secret identity safe. But ah… how he must hate her, and hate himself for failing as a father.

It was that which drove the woman – out of costume, for once, in a sweat shirt and jeans, her bright red locks concealed under a worn ball cap – to slip into a pay phone somewhere in Chicago. The use of a calling card that routed calls first to the company's central office in Denver then to where they were going covered her tracks, or at least made the call a little harder to trace. She held her breath, counting the phone as it rang.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Again.

Fifth.

Sixth.

Seventh…

Gosalyn was ready to hang up on the eighth ring. But it didn't come. Instead, a groggy voice answered.

"Drake Mallard…"

Well. It was the middle of the day. Of course he was asleep. She was still holding her breath.

"Hello…?"

Why was she still holding her breath? She inhaled sharply, then exhaled slowly.

"…Anyone there? If you're on one of those blasted cell phones, I can't hear a word you're saying. Get a real phone, then call back."

He was going to hang up, she could hear him shuffling the phone. Gosalyn forced one syllable out of her suddenly tight throat.

"Dad…?"

This was greeted with a long silence, then finally, "Gosalyn."

Not the most welcoming tone.

"I'm sorry."

Again, there was a strained silence. Well. How had she been expecting him to greet that?

"Where are you?"

She bit her lip. "You heard about -…"

"Bullba," he said in acknowledgement, also cutting her off before too much was said. Landlines were easily tapped and bugged, after all. "Gosalyn…"

"I don't know why I called, really. I just…"

"Tell me where you are."

"I can't do that." She smiled wryly to herself, and added, "I've been disavowed, remember? There's nothing left for me in St. Canard."

"That's not fair, Gosalyn."

"Life's not fair, Dad."

"You know you have no choice but to give that hobby up."

"I do have a choice. I'm just not making the one you want me to make… I guess I'm making the one you made all those years ago."

That struck a nerve, she could hear it in his voice. "Come home, Gosalyn. Don't throw your life away. I know where that choice leads and I know you'll regret it."

"I'm sorry, Dad. I suppose I just called to say goodbye. You won't be hearing from me again."

"Gos-…"

Whatever Drake had been about to say was cut off when she lowered the receiver into the cradle. A solitary tear slid down her cheek as she exited the phone booth, moving across the pavement to where she'd parked her motorcycle.

Two days later she found herself in Gotham City. It was a bad idea all around as the city's protector was more likely to slap a pair of cuffs on her and turn her in than he was to let her presence in the city go unnoticed. The Dark Knight may have believed that she was innocent of the charges against her, but he considered her – rightfully so – headstrong and reckless. She could see how that combination in a vigilante was one he would consider a threat to public safety. So she didn't blame him.

Gosalyn felt that a good deal of her aggression had been worn away in the past few months. She sort of believed that the last of her childish impetuousness had faded away as well, but only time would tell. Gosalyn had one understanding with herself, however. There would be no more mistakes. She wasn't going to rush into anything again. She was going to think things through. H, after all, was no longer here to be the brains of the operation.

In this case, thinking things through meant laying low while she searched for signs of the one person Gosalyn thought might still be considerable as a friend. It wasn't going to help her image any, going looking for Harleyquinn, but in spite of the woman's criminal affiliations, Gosalyn was fairly certain she could be trusted. Perhaps even 'saved'.

Only time would tell. She had to find the woman first, and that meant positioning herself somewhere that she could listen to 'the talk' and find out the latest on where she was. Returning to the bar she'd once lurked in under the alias Poison, this time dressed in much the same unassuming manner as the general thug population, she paid for a bottle of beer and settled at an empty table in the back of the room where she could observe until an opportunity presented itself for her to engage in conversation.

A few hours later found her settled pleasantly into a poker game, lightly chatting with the others in the game about 'business'. By the time she broke even and retired from the game, she'd learned a great deal about the current times in Gotham's underbelly. She'd also learned that Harleyquinn had left the city, what she hadn't managed to uncover was where. No one knew, though they were all speculating it was across the river to NYC.

Exiting the bar, she gazed up at the night sky, seriously considering seeking out the one person that would know for certain. She furrowed her brow. She didn't need his help, she could weed Harley out on her own. And he didn't need to know she was intending on hanging around Harleyquinn.

The next morning she set out across the bridge to Manhattan. Harley hadn't been in any of the papers since she'd stopped playing sidekick to the Joker, and she was clearly intent on keeping herself somewhat hidden, so it took a little more effort than she was expecting to uncover the location of the woman and her hyenas.

It was the hyenas that had given her away, but knowing the woman's love for the beasts – heaven alone knew why – she could see that it was a chance Harley would simply have taken. Sometime near the approach of midnight Gosalyn stumbled on Harley's small apartment. She didn't waste time eavesdropping, knowing the wild dogs would hear her before she had the chance to hear anything, and simply knocked on the door.

It opened, slowly, and she found herself staring momentarily down the barrel of a handgun. Her fingers twitched, but she resisted the urge to strike it from the woman's hand, knowing the hyenas would be on her in a heartbeat. She simply stood there, waiting for recognition to strike. A few moments of blank stare later, she realized it never would. Harley had never known anyone but Quiverwing, and had certainly never seen her without her mask on.

"Whaddya want, chickadee?" Harley snapped impatiently just after the vital realization had struck.

So much for thinking things through.

Gosalyn's cheeks reddened slightly, and she sheepishly admitted, "I'm sorry, Harley. I wasn't thinking…"Her hand moved slowly to pull off the ball cap, letting the locks of red hair cascade down around her face. She had no desire to speak her identity so freely in the corridor between apartments, not knowing who was observing, especially with the openness which Harley was brandishing her gun. Didn't speak highly of the locals, it didn't. Lavender eyes met blue ones, and blue eyes flickered slightly in question, and the gun was lowered.

"Come in. Just don't get too comf'table. Lou and Bud ain't had dinner yet."

"As I'd hate to end up as dinner…" Gosalyn murmured, slipping into the apartment and shutting the door behind her, "I guess I'd better make this quick. Do you know who I am?" She could see the hyenas now, crouched low and silently snarling, watching her every move. Her eyes uneasily left them and returned to Harley.

Harley had crossed her arms, eyeing the other woman. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Maybe I oughtta let Lou and Bud tear ya apart either way…" Her tone was stubborn with suspicion.

Gosalyn couldn't hold it against her, really. She supposed she'd act the same in Harley's shoes, if her own hideout had been found. And given the somewhat cold brush off she'd given the woman before… Gosalyn extended her hand. Slowly and carefully, making damn sure she wasn't close enough to provoke the hyenas into attacking. Still, they snarled, shifting. Sighing, Gos made the jump, as it were. "Gosalyn. Just Gos, really. Either way, it's shorter and smoother than 'Quiverwing'."

Gun still in one hand, finger, for that matter, still resting on the trigger, Harley considered the other woman's offer in silent speculation. Finally, she took her finger off the trigger, shifted the gun to her other hand, and extended her own to shake Gosalyn's. The significance of the identity admission wasn't lost on her, and her gaze drifted to the sentinel animals. "Lou. Bud. Go lay down, babies. It's ok. She's a friend…"

The red-head breathed a sigh of relief as the beasts were called off, and Harley chuckled. Mirth seemed to erase the tension from before, and Gos found herself laughing slightly. "It's good to see you. After the rumors I'd heard of you and the Joker going to war, when I couldn't find you I started to worry."

"Don't know why somebody like you'd worry about somebody like me. That makes twice this month I been surprised like that… Have a sit, I guess."

Gosalyn moved to settle in one of the room's small, plain wood chairs, and took a more relaxed survey of the room.

"Ain't much," Harley said, somewhat reading the other woman's mind. "But I can take care of my babies, and that's what mattahs."

"I see… And I know it's none of my business, but…"

Harley raised a brow at the hesitation. "I heard about that Bullba creep. Ya got'im. Looks like he got you back, tho, huh? I mean… before you were so… bold…"

"Impulsive?"

"That too I guess."

"I guess I've gotten a little older in the past year."

"I guess I have too…"

"Given up on playing vigilante?"

"Doesn't pay the rent. I got mouths ta feed."

Considering this, and considering if she'd expected to find anything different, Gosalyn shifted in her chair and didn't reply.

"Whatcha want, comin' here, anyway? I thought fer sure you'd go home, things bein' over…"

"Well. As you pointed out… Vigilantism doesn't pay the rent. And my reputation is in ruins… I don't have a home to go to. Just a few loose ties I made here and there…"

"Where's the computah geek?"  
"Sent him home, before he got stuck like I am."

"So yer on yer own. Ya got lonely and ya figure old Harley's the only one left who won't turn ya ovah to that coppahs?"

Gosalyn smirked. "Something like that."

"So…"

"So… I need a partner."

"We been through this. Vigilan-…"

"…-tism doesn't pay the rent. I know. But bounties do."

"Bounty huntahs?"

"Yeah. Crazy, I know."

"Been called worse."

"So…"

"Makes a change from tryin' ta blackmail mobstahs… One thing though…"

"What's that?"

"We don't set foot in Gotham. I don't care how much it pays. Ain't takin' no chances runnin' inta _him._"

Gosalyn found herself grinning broadly, knowing it wasn't the Joker that Harley was thinking of.


End file.
